STATE OF THE STATE / ANALYSIS: Governor rewrites script to star again as hero

Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer

Published 4:00 am, Friday, January 6, 2006

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled Thursday for California voters an ambitious marketing campaign for a decidedly more consumer-friendly political product -- an improved elected official and candidate who is wiser and focused solely on "the needs of the people."

The latest version of Schwarzenegger, as introduced in his 25-minute State of the State speech, marked a dramatic contrast from last year's model -- one who railed about special interests, threw out bold promises about blowing up boxes and set off so many firestorms that he ended up consumed by a disastrous special election defeat.

This time the tone was conciliatory not combative, a can-do attitude, but with a dollop of realism and self-deprecating humor thrown in.

"What a difference a year makes," he said to chuckles, noting that his fortunes -- like that of formerly No. 1 college football darling, USC -- had changed overnight.

The governor, in appealing to voters to look ahead, urged billions of dollars in bonds for ambitious infrastructure improvements for "a California eager to meet the challenges of the 21st century" with new roads, more schools, better courts, stronger levees.

Repeatedly, he urged a call to action: "I say, build it."

The speech highlighted how Schwarzenegger -- as many political insiders predicted he must -- has turned back to the future: aiming to recapture the magic of the moderate, maverick, bipartisan reformer who enthralled voters in 2003 during and after the historic recall election.

Gone was the "girlie man" talk mocking lawmakers. This time, he offered a hand to his Democratic opponents, praising their effort, inviting their help and urging them to "work with me" to invest in California.

The address by California's Republican leader was a road map for Schwarzenegger's election-year journey to turn himself from the current ugly duckling whose political leadership is opposed by nearly two-thirds of state voters into a swan once again.

And it illustrated how the bodybuilder-turned-movie-star-turned-governor aimed again to create his own political image. By the end of the evening, Republicans and Democrats were alternately praising his vision, cautioning constraint about his ambitious plans -- and debating his political profile.

"One year ago, we were blowing up the boxes, and now we're being told build it, build it, build it," said Jon Fleischman, publisher of the popular conservative GOP Internet blog, the FlashReport. "It's like the election results of last year have caused a complete ideological reversal ... the governor's a great guy, but it's confusing. It sends the wrong message to Republicans.

"With massive borrowing, an increase in the minimum wage and a lack of details about how we're going to pay for all this, this speech could have been given by (former Democratic Gov.) Gray Davis."

Davis said it wasn't surprising the GOP governor was recouping from his own political defeat by trying out a new march.

"This is like in the Army -- left, right, left," Davis shrugged. "Look, he said he learned his lesson, and he made mistakes. Last year was a lost opportunity. He took on nurses, teachers and firefighters, and he got his hat handed to him."

But while saying the governor could do more to help make prescription drugs more affordable, Davis was largely effusive about the address. "This year, he's on the right track, and he's trying to chart a course for California proposing investments that will control traffic, reduce pollution and build more schools," Davis said. "That's good, basic stuff."

Indeed, history shows that Schwarzenegger -- savvy in the competitive worlds of entertainment and physical fitness -- fully understands the magic of the makeover and good marketing in politics, especially when it comes to up-close-and-personal appeals to constituents.

But several analysts said the governor's problem was the big-picture one: Even after more than two years in office, he still lacks an overarching story line, a consistent theme for his political leadership.

"Everybody's a product of where they come from, and this guy, when he wants to change what he is -- he does a new script and movie. But politics is very different from that," says political strategist David Doak, who is advising Democratic Controller Steve Westly in his campaign for governor. "People expect you to have base core values and make adjustments, but not to entirely remake yourself."

"You can't zip right and zip left without people questioning what you stand for," said Bruce Cain, who heads UC Berkeley's Institute for Governmental Studies. While most Californians "will breathe a sigh of relief that he's not continuing on the confrontational path," he said, "the danger for this strategy is that he could lose both sides."

"Arnold, or someone, has to sit through all this advice and sort out a coherent plan," Cain said. "One thing we haven't seen in the Schwarzenegger administration is coherence."

But Thursday's speech also showed that -- despite his bomb at last year's political box office -- the governor is not the market variety politician that inhabits the Capitol.